Tag Archives: vegetables

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Borage Greens?

Guinea pig foods, , , ,

Used all over the world in different guises and forms, borage greens are a versatile vegetable used in many different cuisines.

Can guinea pigs eat borage greens?

So can guinea pigs eat borage greens, and if they can, how much of them can be eaten?

Lets take a look at their nutritional data and find out a bit more about it.

In particular its acidic, calcium, fat, sugar and phosphorus content is most pertinent to guinea pigs.

food info and image source wikipedia

Total Fat 0.7 g 1%
Saturated fat 0.2 g 1%
Polyunsaturated fat 0.1 g
Monounsaturated fat 0.2 g
Cholesterol 0 mg 0%
Sodium 80 mg 3%
Potassium 470 mg 13%
Total Carbohydrate 3.1 g 1%
Protein 1.8 g 3%
Vitamin A 84%
Vitamin C 58%
Calcium 9%
Iron 18%
Vitamin D 0%
Vit B-6 5%
Vitamin B-12 0%
Magnesium 13%

As you can see borage greens contain some calcium and a hint if fat.

But they also contain a fantastic amount of vitamin c which is brilliant for guinea pugs.

So they can eat borage greens but only two to three times at the oat because of their calcium content.

However, do cut off the heads before you do so.

For more foods that guinea pigs can and can’t eat, check out our guinea pig food list.

can guinea pigs eat just vegetables

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Just Vegetables?

Guinea pig foods,

There are many different vegetables that guinea pigs can eat, in fact so many that we still haven’t written that list yet as I’m still,going through them all

image wikipedia

There are many that are great for them and many that are not good for them at all and that they need to steer clear of.

So is it possible for guinea pigs to live of just vegetables alone?

Well they could do but they wouldn’t live that long. This is because of the variant nature of vegetables.

They are all different from each other. If you have read any of the posts on this site about the different vegetables that guinea pigs can eat, you will know that it really does depend on the vegetable as to whether they can eat and how often they can eat it. So you do need to consider carefully what you feed guinea pigs before you give it to them. No vegetables should be fed to guinea pigs without first understanding what they contain.

They need stuff to chew on all the time. As guinea pigs need stuff to chew on all of the time, vegetables just don’t fit the bill when it comes to this. Unless you feed them a constant supply of them, and then they will get fatter. This is what guinea pigs need hay to chew on.

By having good meadow or Timothy hay, they can get the vitamin c input that they need as well as giving their teeth the chewing action that they need to keep them ground down. If their teeth aren’t ground down, then they will keep growing and it will mean that they will find eating more and more painful.

Depending on what vegetable they have depends on how much vitamin c they take in. As mentioned above, different vegetables contain different amounts of vitamin c. Guinea pigs need vitamin c daily as their bodies do not generate it, so they need it supplemented. If you provide them only with vegetables, then there is a danger that they will not get the vitamin c that they need to live healthily.

So with all these reasons in mind, it is important that guinea pigs are given a balanced diet. Vegetables are great for guinea pigs but only mixed in with a diet of good green hay and vitamin c pellets and fresh water. This means that they get the nutrients they need to live healthily.